Slahhamo Secondary School Rainwater Catchment Project – Tanzania

Location
Slahhamo Village, Karatu District, Arusha Region, Tanzania

Community Description
Slahhamo Village is located northwest of Karatu town in Karatu District in Arusha Region, in Tanzania.

Located adjacent to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with a clear view of Lake Manyara to the south, Slahhamo Secondary School was established in 2003.

Slahhamo village is predominately a farming community, where virtually everyone is a member of the Iraqw tribe. Currently, the school serves 424 students with 8 full time teachers

Problem Addressed
Near the end of every dry season Slahhamo Secondary School is forced to close or ship in water at a higher than normal rate. For teachers this is detrimental, as they have to teach an already inflated syllabus. The reduction in teaching time makes finishing course material in a comprehensive manner nearly impossible. As the water shortage is village wide, students are unable to continue their studies at home. This prevents students from adequately preparing for their exams.

Even when water is shipped in, students have to spend valuable time, which could be used for classroom instruction and preparation, hauling water out of large drums.

The school spends roughly 1,600,000 Tz Shillings per year on water. This total however, does not account for extra water that is bought at the end of the year from an outside source. Additionally, in order to facilitate mandatory chemistry practicals the school ships in distilled water at a price of 1,000 Tz Shillings per Liter, and the school uses 30-50 L of distilled water per year.

Project Description
This project is to build a rainwater catchment system to provide for the water needs of the school.

The system will consist of a 5,000 L storage tank, a foundation on which the tank is placed, gutters for collection of rainwater, and piping connecting the gutters to the tank.

This project primarily aims to prevent the closure of school due to water restrictions at the end of the dry season, and to supplement the amount of water the school uses per day, so as to reduce the school’s operating costs. The money saved will either be diverted to other projects for the school, or be used to reduce the school fees paid per student.

Additionally for the purposes of secondary school, rainwater is an acceptable alternative to distilled water for chemistry practicals. This project will enable the school to stop relying on outside companies for distilled water.

The committee for realizing this project consists of the headmaster and current teachers at the school. The Headmaster has suggested using a local contractor, who is currently building the school hostel. The contractor and associated laborers are native to Mbulubulu ward, in which Slahhamo village is located.

Leftover cement and rebar from the ongoing school hostel construction project will be used to build the foundation for the tank.

The gutters will be constructed from PVC pipe, and the work of placing them will be done by teachers and students.

Due to the high rate of rainfall in this region, only one gutter will be sufficient to fill the tank. Next year, there are future plans to construct an identical collection system on the opposing roof-line.

Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the tank. The cost of the gutters, foundation, and labor will be borne by the school.

Project Impact
424 students, in addition to teachers and staff, will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Nic Wilder

Comments
This is an important project to increase the school’s self-reliance, both in satisfying its daily water needs and in providing clean water for chemistry practicals.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00 + additional amounts

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded through the generosity of Douglas Gillen, of San Francisco, CA, USA, with the assistance of and additional funds from friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Nic Wilder.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Nic of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Nic and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.